CEMEX committed to sustainability

CEMEX and partners iconsys and University of Warwick have been awarded funding from the Department of Transport for the development of a shore power system to eliminate the operation of on-board diesel engines while its ships are discharging marine aggregates.

CEMEX’s participation demonstrates its commitment to fostering partnerships with forward-thinking organisations as part of its efforts to achieve true carbon neutrality, in line with the Future in Action program, the company said in the release.

The project will investigate the feasibility of developing a shore power energy delivery system incorporating battery energy storage, capable of meeting the electrical load requirements of self-discharging commercial cargo vessels; utilising energy derived from carbon free sources.

The study will focus on a solution for the CEMEX Go Innovation, which is already the industry’s most modern and efficient aggregates dredger.

Laurence Dagley, Operational Excellence and Business Development Director for CEMEX West Europe materials commented: “Our commitment to sustainability means we are examining every aspect of our operation to cut emissions, including in our marine business. We are very proud to have received this funding from the UK Government for the project, which will also explore the whole-ship energy efficiency, design, and integration to identify areas where systems can be improved, replaced, or removed to reduce the energy requirements. Additionally, this project could help our vessels meet potential forthcoming ’emissions at berth’ regulation while contributing to the UK Government’s Clean Maritime objectives.”

Phil Alston, commercial director at iconsys said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded funding for this project and to be working alongside CEMEX and University of Warwick to further develop shore power technology. It helps to further validate iConvert™ as a world-leading product for shore power.”

Andrew McGordon, Reader at WMG, University of Warwick, commented “We’re excited to have been awarded funding for this project, alongside iconsys and CEMEX, to further develop our innovative marine systems energy modelling work to help identify energy reductions, emission and cost benefits in the sector.”

The Department of Transport has agreed this funding as part of the clean maritime demonstration competition (CMDC), which will help innovative companies and scientists make emission-free maritime a reality.